Variation in Broadband Access Among Undergraduate Populations Across the United States

Benjamin Skinner (), Taylor Burtch and Hazel Levy
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Benjamin Skinner: University of Florida
Taylor Burtch: Florida State University
Hazel Levy: University of Florida

Research in Higher Education, 2024, vol. 65, issue 5, No 3, 827-870

Abstract: Abstract Increasing numbers of students require internet access to pursue their undergraduate degrees, yet broadband access remains inequitable across student populations. Furthermore, surveys that currently show differences in access by student demographics or location typically do so at high levels of aggregation, thereby obscuring important variation between subpopulations within larger groups. Through the dual lenses of quantitative intersectionality and critical race spatial analysis alongside a QuantCrit approach, we use Bayesian multilevel regression and Census microdata to model variation in broadband access among undergraduate populations at deeper interactions of identity. We find substantive heterogeneity in student broadband access by gender, race, and place, including between typically aggregated subpopulations. Our findings speak to inequities in students’ geographies of opportunity and suggest a range of policy prescriptions at both the institutional and federal level.

Keywords: Broadband; Digital divide; Educational access; QuantCrit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11162-024-09775-w

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